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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28035705">Cornelia's Discovery</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/markaleen/pseuds/markaleen'>markaleen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>American Girl Dolls - All Media Types, American Girls: Samantha - Various Authors, Samantha - An American Girl Holiday (2004)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family, Family Secrets, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:55:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,446</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28035705</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/markaleen/pseuds/markaleen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After hearing mysterious footsteps early in the morning, Aunt Cornelia investigates her suspicions. One-shot. (Set in the movie universe)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cornelia's Discovery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is story is based on a theory often discussed between myself and a friend. After years of talking about it, I finally decided to put it into words after our annual Christmastime re-watch. I hope you enjoy! (and Merry Christmas!)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A sudden noise stirred Cornelia from a light doze. She'd woken about half an hour ago, a bit earlier than she would have liked to before a busy day. Gertrude wouldn't be around for the morning wake-up call for at least another hour. She made the journey across the hall to Gard's room to indulge in a sleepy snuggle with her new husband before she readied herself the day. It'd been all she could do not to wake him to watch the sunrise. He'd been so troubled by the news of Nellie, Bridget, and Jenny since receiving Mrs. Hopkins' letter, she was too happy to see him finally getting some sleep to disturb him for something trivial. The thought was fleeting, the warmth of the bed on this chilly morning was a much better choice.</p><p>Eyes fluttering open, she sat up to listen for the sound again. She was about to lay down again when she heard a distinct creak of a floorboard. Gertrude was the logical explanation. Still, Cornelia remained frozen, listening again. Upon the second creak, gut instinct told her these were not the footsteps of a grown-up. Samantha, she thought. Fearing something was wrong, she was on her feet in a second and pulling on her dressing gown.</p><p>The house was dark, the only light coming from outside the windows. Dawn was just starting to break giving her enough limitation to navigate the halls. Reaching the stairs, she saw a small figure at the bottom hasten. This ruled out Gertrude for sure, but even in the dark, she knew the silhouette didn't belong to Samantha. Instead of following, Cornelia turned around in the direction of her niece's door. Peeking her head in, her suspicions were confirmed. Samantha was fast asleep, oblivious to her or anyone else's presence.</p><p>Cornelia then rushed downstairs, turning on the lights. Whoever it was was gone, no trace left behind. A burglar hadn't crossed her mind until she found herself taking inventory of the rooms as she passed through the halls. A child couldn't have been capable of taking much, nothing they couldn't part with if that were the case. How a child – anyone – could have gotten in she wasn't sure. They had, that's all she knew. Yet, she felt strangely calm. Wary, but calm.</p><p>"Is everything all right, Ma'am?"</p><p>Cornelia jumped at the sound of Gertrude's voice, so wrapped up in the soft footsteps she'd heard that she missed the obvious ones coming up behind her.</p><p>"I thought I heard something."</p><p>The maid gave the rooms the same once over as Cornelia had with the same results. "Everything is as it was last night. Perhaps it was the wind rattling the door?"</p><p>Cornelia started to shake her head, stopping before the gesture was clear. "It must have been," she fibbed, unsure why.</p><p>"Why don't you go back to bed, Mrs. Edwards, and I'll bring you your tea."</p><p>"Thank you, Gertrude, I'll have it with breakfast."</p><p>Gertrude bowed her head, bidding her good morning before setting off on her morning chores.</p><p>Back upstairs, Cornelia contemplated waking Gard before deciding it was pointless until she had a plausible explanation. She knew what she saw and had been awake enough to know it wasn't her imagination. Samantha was safe which was all that mattered, ultimately. However, she couldn't shake the feeling lingering in the air. This wasn't the first time lately she'd felt like something was amiss. There wasn't a sense of danger which was the only thing keeping her quiet, especially with both Gard and Samantha so preoccupied with the death of Mr. O'Malley.</p><p>The thought stopped her cold in her tracks. The O'Malley girls. Mrs. Frouchy. Samantha's sudden silence about the friends she normally spoke of on a daily basis. The tiptoeing and the little shadow running away at the sound of someone else's footsteps. Was it possible?</p><p>The same gut-instinct that had pulled her away from Gard now brought her upstairs to the attic. She was careful not to make a sound in case her intuition was correct.</p><p>Toys. Beds. Scraps of food left on the missing dinner plates of which Gertrude had recently complained. Two little girls buried under piles of blankets and sleeping soundly. Cornelia brought a hand over her mouth, eyes filling with tears. It had been Samantha after all. On one hand, she had suspected it as soon as Gertrude told her and Gard of Mrs. Frouchy's visit. It was the accusations of the stolen money that quelled any investigation from either her or Gard. Samantha was not a thief. She had no reason to be.</p><p>Pushing back her emotions, Cornelia took a few careful steps forward, wondering which girl she'd seen leaving the house. She was glad to see it hadn't been Jenny. Even in her sleep, the youngest O'Malley wore a solemn frown. Her heart ached for the little girl, wondering if she'd smiled at all since the death of her mother. Bridget was turned on her side facing the wall, but the mess of blonde hair was unmistakable. More relief. From all Samantha had said, Nellie was no stranger to the streets of New York. Had it been one of the younger two, she might have worried they were running away. She knew Nellie would never abandon her sisters.</p><p>Cornelia left Bridget and Jenny to their dreams and retreated to her room, still trying to process all she had discovered. More importantly, she was trying to process her reaction to it. There had to be a reason for Samantha's actions. This couldn't be the simple case of her missing her friends. Their plan had worked, after all. She was able to connect with Nellie and could meet with her for a few minutes every afternoon. That didn't include the younger two, but the base of her friendship was Nellie. Meanwhile, she and Samantha had been devising another plan, one that would allow for visits with all three girls with the help of Mrs. Vandergeld's influence. Now she understood why Samantha avoided those discussions even before they'd been informed of the name of the missing children, changing the subject as soon as it was aired.</p><p>What bothered her more than the fact Samantha had theoretically kidnapped the girls was the fact she, whatever her reasons were, kept it to herself. Cornelia understood that Samantha might not feel comfortable coming to her, it was only recently the girl started warming up to her, but Gard? She knew how much Samantha adored her uncle. Why didn't she go to him for help? This brought her to an ethical dilemma. Did she go to Samantha or Gard? Legally, she had a right to inform the authorities, and she knew by telling Gard this would be the course of action. Morally, she felt she first needed to discuss things with Samantha, find out why she would take on these matters without assistance. Though she couldn't bring herself to admit it, she was delighted and felt great pride in calling herself Samantha's aunt at this moment. What a strong girl she was, putting herself at risk in the interest of others. She didn't have to question why she'd want the girls out of Cold Rock. Cornelia would never forget the look on all the kids' faces during her tour. Sad… shivering… lost… looking at her and Samantha as they passed by, hoping they might be the ones to rescue them. So many of them… most without even a bed to call their own. The attic wasn't much of an improvement in the winter, but at least they had thick blankets and access to warmer clothes. Food was likely more plentiful, too, which was a sad thought given Samantha was probably taking mere scraps or taking food from her plate and hiding it in a napkin.</p><p>The longer her thoughts went down this path, the firmer her resolve became to aid Samantha in her mission. Was it wrong? Most likely, especially with the realization if she told Samantha she knew she would be held accountable should the girls ever be discovered. That she didn't mind so much. She was all for protesting injustices. Her concern was for Gard. He stood to lose everything. Neither the two of them nor Gertrude could know. In secret, she'd help in any way she could, leaving extra food when appropriate, perhaps going shopping and 'mistakenly' bringing home dresses that were too small for Samantha – anything she could manage. Knowing the girls were safe was all that mattered. She only wished she could ease Gard's mind as well.</p><p>This was Samantha's battle, and she was proud even if she could never tell her.</p>
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